I will be exhibiting at the Tiny Weddings Fair, on 30th September 2018. It will be held at The Wycombe Swan Theatre, St Mary St, High Wycombe HP11 2XE, UK. The Tiny Weddings Fair is an exciting new event; focusing on couples planning elopements and small, intimate weddings. I know tiny weddings very well. My clients tend to either be eloping to New York to get married in Central Park alone, or bringing a small group of their nearest and dearest with them to witness their wedding, or bringing a larger group of up to fifty guests with them, or perhaps inviting family and friends from different places around the world. Fifty is a large group for a wedding in Central Park, but by traditional wedding standards, it still counts as a “Tiny Wedding”, or to use an increasingly popular term; Microwedding. Or, if you prefer; a small and intimate wedding with a focus on the couple and a celebration of their love with just the people who matter most to them. I find that many couples are having a smaller wedding to put the emphasis on themselves as a couple, and to provide a truly unique and memorable experience for their guests.

Many couples are choosing to disengage from the notion that a bigger guest list is better and beginning to avoid large mainstream suppliers and industry stalwarts. So many couples are cutting their guest lists to spend more on what is important to them, or to get married somewhere awesome, such as New York. When writing ceremonies with couple, I find that if fewer people are present when a couple get married, they are more likely to show their true personalities, and include more unique and personal touches.

Actually, I’m not just exhibiting at this fair, I’m organising it. My friend and business partner, Carly from Epic Elopement, and I have found this fair to be a labour of love. We have attended traditional wedding fairs and more alternative fairs, but we have often grumbled to each other that eloping couples often don’t comfortably fit in to either niche. We truly love tiny weddings and elopements, and we feel that a small wedding has specific requirements, and once couples have decided to keep their guest list small, they need suppliers who can help them with these particular needs. We didn’t think those needs were being met with existing wedding fairs, so we decided to start a fair that would.

When I talk to my clients about their reasons for choosing to marry away from home, I find that couples are changing with the times and choosing to focus on home ownership, raising a family or travelling rather than spending a large sum on extended family weddings. It’s also true that couples are getting married later in life; the average age is at a record high 26.5 for women and 28.5 for men – many people are already co-habiting or raising a family by the time they embark on marriage and this “right of passage” is no longer what it once was.

Follow the Tiny Wedding Facebook page for helpful and inspiring articles and information, and show your interest in our Facebook event to see updates. Follow us on Instagram for lovely photos and inspiration of small weddings, chat with us on Twitter and see our posts on Pinterest. Most importantly, buy yourself a ticket in advance.
One of the main ways this fair differs from many of the others are the talks and workshops that the exhibitors and other experts will be putting on in a room upstairs at the venue. They will provide genuinely useful information for couples considering and elopement or a small wedding. Many couples are interested in small and intimate wedding, but often they feel that they do not know enough about how to do it, or where to start. With this in mind, we will be presenting small talks and workshops throughout the day. Those who purchase tickets in advance will have preferential entry to these talks.

We are working very hard to find a great mix of British-based celebrants, venues in the UK who are happy to cater for small groups, photographers who love small weddings and who are keen to travel, wedding attire suitable for a wedding in a less traditional location, stationers and caterers and florists who want to create something unique and special for your small group, and planners like myself who specialise in one particular fabulous location (so far we have people who know about Cornwall, the Lake District, Scotland, France, Spain, Iceland, Canada, Alaska and myself with my New York knowledge). I can’t wait to meet couples who are interested in hearing about getting married in this amazingly beautiful public park in this incredible city which truly has something for everyone. Let me know if you’re planning on coming to see me!

You are right about the change in the reasons why and the life stage people are at when they get married. 20-30 years ago people were younger when getting married and got married before living together or starting a family. But now people are usually older than their parents were when they get married. And are already living together and often already have children, or are planning to buy a home and have children after getting married. Interesting how people’s views of what a wedding day is and how they want their wedding to be can change so much in just a few decades.